HLS moves to encourage public service

HLS moves to encourage public service

Amidst all the reporting about massive first-year associate
salaries
at big law firms, greedy lawyers who will do
anything
to win a case, and
other
shark
tales
, every now and then there comes some positive news. This time the good news
comes from Harvard Law School
, where a number of our
Convictions
contributors teach. HLS is planning to waive the third-year tuition for any law student who commits to spending their first five years after graduation in public service (broadly defined). According to the
Washington Post
:

The initiative will save students who start their law classes this fall more than $41,000 in tuition. The school estimates that the program will cost about $3 million annually over five years.

* * *

Harvard
described the initiative as the first program of its kind in legal education. Students will be asked to demonstrate a commitment to public service during their time in law school. Although the program is geared toward students entering the school this fall, current students will be eligible for smaller tuition grants of $5,000 and $10,000.

The school defines public-service work as any full-time job in government (federal, state and local and the military), any full-time job for a nonprofit organization and any full-time job for a political campaign. Up to one year of a clerkship can qualify toward the five-year commitment.

Like many schools, Harvard Law also offers a loan repayment assistance program for graduates who choose careers in government, public interest and higher education.

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So far, so good
. I think it's generally a good idea for law schools to encourage public service. But is this the best way to do it? One can easily imagine the enormous enforcement headache this will create on the back end. I've had some experience with that in the context of the
Truman Scholarship
, a federal grant which aims to encourage public service, but has a mediocre track record at doing so because Truman Scholars often change their career plans after graduation. And there are other concerns too. Carolyn raises some good points at
law.com's blog
regarding potential effects on the legal labor market that may disadvantage graduates at schools (particularly those without the resources to waive their 3L tuition). And she points to this
note
by UCLA economist Matthew Kahn, who thinks there may be important socioeconomic consequences which flow from this program that lead to more of a "glass ceiling" at law firms down the road.

I'm curious what my
Convictions
colleagues think. Should law schools be in the business of encouraging public service? And if so, how?

Phillip Carter is an Iraq veteran who now directs the veterans research program at the Center for a New American Security.